New Jersey will still have the latest federal election primary this year, at least at the moment, even with Gov. Phil Murphy’s announcement that he is moving the date until July 7 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At least five states, including New York, had already decided to move their presidential and congressional primaries until after June 2, which was supposed to be the date of New Jersey’s election. With the Democratic and Republican primaries always scheduled for the first Tuesday of June, New Jersey winds up being the last state to choose candidates for president every four years. New York and Kentucky had both postponed their primaries until June 23.
Gov. Phil Murphy went further, rescheduling New Jersey’s primary two weeks later, for July 7. He signed an executive order on Wednesday changing the date and said no legislative action was needed to do so. He said he chose that late date because he would like people to be able to vote in person, if possible, and if not, to have plenty of time to conduct a statewide mail-in ballot election, which New Jersey has not done previously.
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